The Coveted One
by fanpire4000
Summary: AU. Katniss and Peeta were never reaped, but when their parents remarry, the new siblings struggle to fight their growing attraction for each other. And with a revolution on the horizon, forbidden romance is just one of their problems.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone! This is my first multi-chapter fic, and I'm super excited (and somewhat nervous). :P The M rating will apply later on in the story, in case you were wondering. ;)**

**A super huge shoutout to my lovely betas/pre-readers tweety4be and madamemouse! Those ladies are the best! :)**

**Enjoy!**

The rain was coming down in sheets on the day my mother was set to become Mrs. Mellark.

The wedding was being held in the bakery, because, when all the tables and counters had been pulled out of the way, it was the largest room available to us. I sat in a front corner near a window and stared outside, unable to help thinking that the weather accurately reflected my mood.

It wasn't the Mellarks. I found Theo and his sons to be kind people, even though I didn't know them all too well.

It wasn't the situation. My sister, mother, and I would never have to worry about not eating or keeping warm while living in a bakery.

It was the fact that I seemed to be the only one thinking of my father. He had died in a mining accident years ago, but he always seemed to be in our minds. Now, my mother hadn't mentioned him at all. She seemed perfectly content with her new fiancé. I could understand her being giddy over him, as he was a handsome, caring, gentle man, but how could she possibly forget my father? They had been so in love when he was alive. I didn't know how a person could _ever _move on from someone after loving them that much. My throat tightened as I got too wound up in my thoughts and I pressed my knuckles to my lips as if to physically hold the tears back.

"You look great." I spun around to see who had spoken. My best friend, Gale, stood before me in some tattered brown pants and a frayed white button down shirt, the nicest clothes he owned. I stared down at my light blue dress, the one that I had worn just a couple days ago during the 74th Reaping of the Hunger Games. I found it odd that I was wearing the same attire on my mother's wedding as when I had watched a twelve year old girl and a seventeen year old boy walk up the steps to what would probably be their death.

"Thanks," I said, smoothing down the soft material. "But you saw me in it not too long ago."

"Well... this time it's for a better situation." I nodded, knowing he was right, but still feeling an inkling of sadness creep its way into my belly.

Gale and I stood there in a comfortable silence as more guests began to trickle in to the bakery. The Mellark men had a large amount of friends, many more than my family had. People in the Seam generally didn't have too many friends, only a few close ones. The thought that I would no longer be living in the Seam was almost too bizarre to comprehend.

"Gale? Gale!" We heard Hazelle, Gale's mother, calling him over the twitter of everyone's conversations. She came over to us and handed Gale his little sister, Posy.

"Watch her please," she said quickly before scurrying off into the fray. She looked razzled, as anyone putting together a wedding would expectedly be. Posy quickly got fussy, and Gale left to take care of her, leaving me alone. My little sister, Prim, was somewhere in the back of the bakery with my mother, while I had chosen to leave the makeshift dressing room early.

I felt awkward, standing all by myself while everyone around me was socializing among themselves. Just when I was about to scurry back to my mother and sister just for the sake of not being alone, I felt a soft brush of fingers against my wrist.

"Hey," Peeta Mellark said quietly when I turned around. My eyes widened slightly. He had surprised me by striking up conversation.

When we had been younger, my mother, sister, and I had been starving to the point of near death. Peeta, despite his late mother's wraith, had thrown me two loaves of charred bread when I had all but passed out behind their bakery. Those two loaves of bread had saved our lives, and I had always wanted to thank him for it. When our parents had announced their engagement to us, I had tried to talk to him, hoping to somehow thank him for what he had done, and possibly strike up a friendship.

But after I had all but said "hello", he had blushed, muttered something I wasn't able to catch, and scurried away as soon as he had a chance. His brothers were friendly and outgoing and already felt like family, but Peeta had remained aloof, and to be quite honest, a bit rude. He had done his best to ignore me any time I tried to make conversation, so the simple "hey" I had gotten just now was huge.

"Uh, hi, Peeta," I said awkwardly.

"You look very beautiful today, Katniss," he told me, not meeting my eyes. I felt my cheeks begin to burn at his compliment. Where had that come from? I assumed he was just trying to be polite, but it still caused me to feel all fluttery. I had never been complimented like that by any other man before, other than Gale, who was so much like a sibling to me that I didn't think he really counted. I found it ironic that once a man _did_ compliment me in that way, he would become my brother almost immediately.

"Thanks," I said, biting my lip. "You look nice too." He was wearing a simple suit that had clearly been handed down many times, but I had to admit he looked very handsome in it.

"Thank you," he responded, a blush rising up his cheeks as well. "So, you've got everything moved in now?" He asked, changing the subject.

"Yes. There wasn't much to move, but everything's pretty much settled. Are you sharing a room with anyone?" Our conversation was dry and awkward, and it was strange to think we would be close family by the end of the day.

"Nope. I got the spare office downstairs. Everyone else is upstairs."

"You're the only one with their own space then." I smiled at him. "I love Prim to pieces, but I do like some time alone once in a while."

"Same with me," he responded. "My... well, _our_, brothers can be a lot to handle some times."

Just when we had started to loosen up with each other, music filled the room, signaling the start of the wedding. I had seen Capitol wedding on television, where they took place in huge ballrooms and everyone wore fancy clothes and sat at tables filled with expensive food while the bride and groom were wed by some sort of important person of their choice and presented each other with rings that held diamonds so large you could see their sparkle a mile away.

In District 12, people were married by whoever would do the job, while their friends crowded around to watch. Rings were presented if they were already possessed by the family, and there was usually little to no food provided. Alcohol, however, was generally present and the new couple and their guests would drink and dance and party as long as their bodies would allow them.

Peeta and I stayed next to each other as people began to gather around the front of the room. My mother entered from the back room in a white dress that had been lent to her by one of the Mellark's friends. Her hair was pulled back into a small braid that tumbled into curls at her waist, and I was stunned at her beauty after all those years of grief and hardship.

Theo beamed at his bride, as did the rest of the room. Yet another friend of the Mellark's friends was doing the job of wedding the two, and the room quieted when he raised his hands to the crowd.

The vows were simple and finished within minutes. A simple pair of gold, beat-up wedding bands were exchanged between the two. They weren't from our family, of course. We hadn't had any rings to pass down, and if we had, they would have been sold for food long ago.

After the rings and I do's, the man announced them married and gave Theo permission to kiss his bride. An applaud erupted from the surrounding crowd. I clapped softly but averted my gaze. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Peeta do the same.

The crowd broke up as people began to socialize and congratulate the new couple. Peeta and I stayed near each other, not saying anything and letting the uncomfortable silence build. My eyes scanned the room for Gale, but he was no where to be seen.

"Um," Peeta began, swallowing awkwardly. I looked at my new brother. Calling him my brother was the strangest thing. We barely knew each other, even though he had saved me from dying once before. I wasn't even sure he remembered that instance, or fathomed how much it had helped my family and I. I wished this was easier for us. I hated how he seemed like he was being ordered to talk to me, and was doing it only because he absolutely had to. I hated that he seemed to hate _me._

"You, uh, want to see the cake?" I wanted to say "no" because I hated this uncomfort we both seemed to be feeling and I just wanted to walk away, but I knew I was being foolish. No problems were ever solved by being ignored, and I knew that if I was going to be living with him I _should _get to know him better, at least be nice. Even if he didn't like me, I had to give him credit for trying. And after all, he had saved my life.

"Okay," I said, and followed him through the crowd and into the kitchen. He opened the doors to an enormous fridge and pulled out one of the trays. Sitting atop it was the most ornate, exquisite cake I had ever laid my eyes upon. Prim and I had always loved to walk past the bakery and admire the decorated cakes displayed in the window, but this one put all the others to shame.

Every inch of it was covered in delicate and very detailed flowers of all kinds. Roses, daisies, lilacs, poppies, and every other flower I could imagine had been recreated in frosting. Even the colors were breathtaking. Each flower's color was perfectly matched to the real thing, making me wonder how long it had taken to mix and test dyes until the right shade was found.

"Wow," I said, unable to fully convey how amazing I found it to be. "It's really, really beautiful." Peeta ducked his head, a sheepish grin overtaking his face.

"Thanks. It was pretty time consuming to make, but luckily it came out how I imagined."

"You made this?" I asked, surprise blossoming on my face.

"Yes. Is it so much of a surprise?" A small smile played on his lips.

"No!" I said, not realizing until then how rude that question had sounded. I wanted to smack myself. The last thing I needed was to give him a _reason _to dislike me. "I mean, what I meant was... well, I knew you were good, but not, you know, _that _good." He chuckled, slightly shaking his head. I felt a blush creeping up my neck into my cheeks.

"Well, thanks. My dad offered to make it, but I wanted to. I usually don't do cakes, but for some reason I had a picture in my mind of exactly how this one should look."

"You should do them more often, because you're really great at it," I told him. He opened his mouth to say something else, but Terence, his (our!) older brother, interrupted us.

"Hey, little sister!" He said with enthusiasm, wrapping me in a hug from behind. I laughed as he lifted my feet off the ground for a moment before setting me down and leading Peeta and I out of the kitchen. I had gotten to know him and Benvolio, Peeta's younger brother, fairly well. Peeta was the only one who had shut me out.

The rest of the evening was filled with partying and laughter and fun. It was the biggest dose of any of those things either member of my family had received in a very long while. I enjoyed everything despite myself, and I had danced with Gale, my new brothers, and a vast assortment of their friends whom I had never met before that night.

It was well after one by the time everyone had gone home for the night. With only two bathrooms for seven people, it took a while for everyone to get their turn. While I waited, I prepared myself a cup of tea and sat in the small living room downstairs next to Peeta's bedroom. The soft pajamas I had put on felt amazing after having worn a dress all day. Exhaustion was coursing through my viens, and as much as I wanted to just go to sleep, I still had to use the bathroom to wash up a bit before bed. I stared out the window at the rain that was pouring out of the sky as hard as ever when I heard footsteps fall into the room.

"The bathroom's emp-" I stood as Peeta spoke, lifting myself out of the chair I had been seated in and into his line of sight. He stopped speaking immediately, and his eyes widened slightly. I felt myself blush when I realized that I was wearing the skimpy, revealing, linen clothes I normally wore to bed in the summer. The only people who had ever seen me dressed like this were my mother and Prim.

"Emp- it's empty. You can, um, use it." He stammered, regaining his voice but still staring at me. I didn't say anything; just stood there staring back at him. I had always scoffed at people who talked about reading others' emotions just from looking at their eyes. All I saw when I looked at someone's eyes were, well, eyes.

But when I looked into _Peeta's _eyes, I saw everything. I don't know what it was that he saw in mine, but there were so many emotions running through his it nearly overwhelmed me. But the way he looked at me was one that I would expect someone to use if they came across something bizarrely out of place- like if one were to come home and find strangers living in their house instead of the person's own family. I was curious, wondering why he was looking at me this way, when I saw a flash of red, hot anger pass through his mysterious, blue eyes.

I broke away then, angry with him as he was with me. Who was he to be mad with me for my mother marrying his father? None of this was my fault. And why had he been nice to me earlier today but was now upset and irritated with me? I clenched my teeth, wishing that if he was going to dislike me he would just dislike me _all_ the time, and quit being nice in intervals and making me think I liked him.

I brushed past him, muttered a brief "night" and stalked into the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind me. As I splashed my face with warm water, I wondered how on earth I was going to live with someone who was so undecided about me, and who I couldn't seem to quit worrying about, no matter how hard I tried.

**So what did you think? Good? Bad? Somewhere in between? Leave me a review and let me know. :) And if you have any questions, be sure to ask and I'll do my best to answer. :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi everyone! Thank you so much for all the lovely reviews you left. :) You all gave me incentive to write faster, so I got this chapter out much sooner than I thought I would have. From here on out though, I'm not sure how frequent updates will be. My life is kind of crazy so sometimes I don't have a lot of time to write. But I'll do the best I can to keep the chapters coming. :)**

**A big hug and kiss to my lovely betas, tweety4be and madamemouse (who, by the way, has two fantastic fics up for the Darkest Powers Series by Kelley Armstrong, and I strongly suggest you check them out if you have read that series :D).**

**Oh, and since I forgot it in the first chapter- I unfortunately do not own the Hunger Games. **

**Anyhoo, enjoy, my sweet readers!**

The next morning I awoke to the sounds of my younger sister rustling through a pile of clothing. I turned over to face the direction she was in, and she looked up at me and smiled.

"Morning!" She greeted me cheerfully.

"Mm," I mumbled, stretching my arms above my head. I never could understand how she was so bright and energetic in the morning. I, on the other hand, was always at my most antisocial.

Prim went back to folding and sorting our clothing (there weren't many) while I stretched and let the fuzziness seep out of my brain. It was Sunday—that meant Gale and I were hunting together. He had been afraid that after I moved into the bakery our Sunday hunting would end. I had assured him it wouldn't. Whether my family needed the game or not, I still wanted to spend time with my best friend.

After I had showered (still relishing that fact that I got to have daily, heated showers) and dressed in my hunting attire, I followed my nose downstairs to the kitchen, where the incredible smell of fresh bread was emanating.

I walked in just as Theo was pulling a huge batch of sweet rolls out of the oven. My stomach growled just looking at them.

"Morning!" Everyone greeted me. All but my mother and Peeta were in the room, and I assumed those two were showering.

"Morning," I replied, joining the crowd around the counter that were currently trying to swipe rolls.

"Back, back!" Theo said, his voice playful. "Actually, no, take them. Take all you want. But don't cry to me when you burn yourself." That made us reluctantly back away and wait for them to cool.

My mother entered the room just as everyone began to eat. Fresh sweet rolls and cold milk was the best breakfast I can remember my family ever having. My mother and sister seemed to be thinking the same thing from the strange looks of amazement on their faces as they ate.

I finished quickly, wanting to leave before Peeta came down. I didn't know what he was doing or why it was taking him so long, but I knew I had no desire to see him and his conflicting emotions this early in the day. When I told Theo I was going out hunting with Gale, he gave me enough wrapped rolls for each member of Gale's family to have two. I was beginning to see more and more why my mother had chosen to marry him.

Walking through the Seam to Gale's was very strange. I had almost expected myself to miss it a bit, since it had been my home for so long and every one of my memories, both good and bad, had taken place there. There was, however, no positive feelings toward the place whatsoever. It nearly made me want to forget the hunting and run back to the warmth and comfort of the bakery immediately.

When I got to Gale's, he and his family all were ecstatic about the treats I had brought them. After the many thanks from Hazelle, Gale and I finally made our way out of the house and into the forest. Once we were to our usual spot, we poured hot tea out of a flask into two cups and sat together. Gale spoke first.

"So, how was the first night as a big happy family in the bakery?" He asked.

"Good. Really good. It was nice and warm." I almost felt bad talking about it, since I knew he still had to suffer the cold nights with no heating and thin blankets. Even though it was spring, nighttime in the mountains was still freezing.

"Glad to hear it," he said, seemingly unfazed by this. "How were the Mellarks?" He said their name in a tone you would expect one to talk about suspicious strangers with, like he didn't trust them. I couldn't blame him, of course. Being raised in the Seam, people you weren't familiar with weren't to be trusted until they proved themselves otherwise. Still, it left me feeling a tad uncomfortable.

"They were wonderful. I'm starting to warm up to Theo more and more. He's the one who gave me the rolls to give to you, you know. Ben and Terence are great, too." He was quiet for a minute, sipping his tea and thinking.

"What about the other one? Peeta?" He asked. I bit my lip. I had been hoping to avoid talking about Peeta. As irritated as I was with him, it didn't feel right to talk badly about him to Gale.

"Um," I started, trying to be as vague as possible. "Well, he's alright, I guess."

"Just alright? Not great, like the rest of his family?" I was used to Gale's subtle sarcasm, but at the moment I found it frustrating.

"I just get the feeling that he doesn't like me very much. Intruding on his territory or something. I don't know. But we should start hunting if we hope to catch anything." I stood before he could respond, venturing into the forest with my bow ready.

It was getting dark by the time we finished. We hadn't been able to find many animals that day, and after several hours we only had two rabbits and a turkey to show for it. We took the rabbits to Greasy Sae and Gale kept the turkey.

I walked home with him to say goodbye to his family, but I then remembered that tonight was the televised tributes' chariot rides. I was surprised that I had forgotten about it—it was pretty hard to forget about anything going on with the Hunger Games, no matter what else was going on in your life.

Chariot rides, along with every other Hunger Games ordeal, were required viewing for all of Panem. Since there was no time to go back to the bakery to watch, I stayed with the Hawthornes. Every household in Panem, no matter how poor, was provided with a television and electricity, specifically for the games. Heating and other necessities, however, were not provided by the government.

I sat on the edge of the couch next to Gale. The screen flashed past the tributes, all standing with their mentors, victors of past games. District 12's victors, however, stood with what looked like a trainer, not with the drunk Haymitch Abernathy, our district's only victor. I found this strange. Though I didn't imagine Haymitch was any help at all to the tributes, I still imagined that the Capitol would require that he be there.

We watched as pairs of tributes from each District rode by, some in costumes that gave off vibes of strength and power, and others that were just so stupid I was nearly embarrassed for the tributes that had to wear them. When our district went by, I inhaled sharply at seeing the tiny twelve year old girl, horrified that she had to face the Careers and every other strong, brutal killer in the games. Gale noticed my discomfort and grabbed my hand and held it. He had never done anything like this before. It wasn't _bad_ necessarily, just so strange and unusual that it made me uncomfortable, so I pulled my legs up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them, freeing my hand from his.

Later, once the rides had finished, I said my goodbye's to Hazelle and the kids, and Gale walked me outside. I bid him goodnight, but just as I was about to leave, he pulled me in for a hug. I was sure the look on my face was of pure bewilderment. Gale had _never _hugged me before, not even when my father had died. We just weren't that way—neither of us was really that affectionate with anyone. I hugged him back, awkwardly, not having a clue what it was that had brought this on.

He pulled away finally, and I stepped back, looking at his face for some kind of indication as to what he was thinking. Unfortunately, I couldn't read him like I could Peeta.

"Come by tomorrow, okay?" He said, not acting like anything was different when something clearly was. "We can hang out?"

"Uh... okay..." I said slowly. Since when did he ask to hang out? Why was he even asking me to come over in the first place? I usually did anyways. "Um, I gotta go home. They're probably, uh, wondering what's taking me so long." He nodded.

"Night Catnip," he said, smiling at me.

"Night," I responded, turning on my heel and walking back to the bakery. I was in a daze all the way home, wondering what was going on with Gale.

When I got back, I expected everyone to be asleep, considering it was so late. The kitchen light, however, was on, and I stepped inside to find Peeta sitting at the table, drawing. I found this strange considering how late it was. He didn't look up, but he spoke.

"Where were you?" He asked, his voice accusing. Anger flared up inside of me.

"Well hello to you too," I retorted.

"I'm sorry. Hi. Where were you?" He said sarcastically. He finally set down his pencil and looked at me.

"Why does it matter to you?" He stared at me a moment, not saying anything. I raised my eyebrows, as if saying _"Well?"_

"Uh, your mom. She was asking if anyone knew where you were. You had her worried."

"Oh," I said. My mother should have know I was with Gale. I always was on Sundays.

"Are you going to answer my question?" He asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Well if you _must _know, I was out with Gale." I don't think I imagined the slight wrinkle that formed in Peeta's nose.

"Is he your boyfriend?" _What?_

"Wha—I—No!" I responded, wanting to scream in frustration. "He is _just _a friend!"

"Doesn't seem like it," Peeta said, returning to his picture. I gritted my teeth.

"Well we _are_, and all we did was hunt." My mind flashed back to the hand-hold and hug, but I ignored it. "It was late when we got back so I had to stay at his place to watch the chariot rides. And why do you care so much about whether he's my boyfriend or not anyways?" Peeta chuckled softly and shook his head, but gave no other response. My brow furrowed. I wanted to ask what in the world _that_ was supposed to mean, but more so I wanted to get away from this uncomfortable conversation, so I changed the subject.

"Where were _you_ this morning? I didn't see you before I left."

"I was visiting a friend," he told me.

"Oh. Your girlfriend?" I said this only to get back at him for asking me about Gale being myboyfriend, but for some inexplicable reason I didn't really like the idea of Peeta having a girlfriend.

He laughed before he responded.

"Hardly," he said, still chuckling slightly.

"Well, who then? Hm?" I asked, getting annoying that he always demanded answers to the questions he asked me but rarely gave answers to the ones I asked him.

"Haymitch Abernathy," he told me after a short pause, as if he was considering whether to share this information with me or not.

"Hay—what? Why is he still here? Shouldn't he be in the Capitol with our tributes? You know, _helping_ them prepare for the games?"

"You honestly think he would be much help? And he refused to go. There was no way he could be punished, since he was so drunk he didn't have a clue what he was doing. He left earlier today though, slightly more sober than usual. And the tributes got some game expert to guide them until Haymitch got there. It's probably a shame that Haymitch made it at all, because I'm sure whoever they had before was a lot more help." I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. I had so many questions rolling around in my head that I didn't know what to choose. Mainly, though I was wondering how in the world Peeta knew Haymitch Abernathy, the rude, drunken man who was District 12's lone victor, and how they had possibly become friends. But before I could ask anything, Peeta snapped his drawing book shut and stood.

"I'm going to bed," he told me. "Goodnight." And without even giving me a chance to tell him goodnight as well, he left the kitchen and went to his tiny bedroom, slamming the door shut behind him.

I growled to myself as I walked up the stairs to mine and Prim's bedroom. Despite being tired, it took me a long while to fall asleep. Peeta, I had decided, was rude and arrogant and completely frustrating. What I couldn't seem to understand, however, was why I had an inexplicable desire to talk to him again.

The next morning before breakfast, I found my mother alone in the kitchen making coffee. Everyone else was still sleeping, so it was just the two of us. I apologized to her for worrying her by coming home late the night before.

"It's quite alright," she told me. "I knew you were safe with Gale."

"You... weren't worried?" I asked.

"Well, no. I worry only if there's a reason. I know you and Gale manage by yourselves just fine."

"Was Prim asking about me?"

"No... she knows you and Gale spend Sundays together just as I do. Why are you asking?"

"Oh, no reason," I said, quickly changing the subject before she could question further. I couldn't concentrate much on our conversation though, because I couldn't stop thinking about how there was clearly more to Peeta Mellark's intrusive questioning than I had originally thought.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello lovely readers! Thank you so much for all the reviews you left last chapter. i have 44 reviews so far with only two chapters up. That's so fantastic! You guys are the best. :)**

**A big thank you to my amazing betas, tweety4be and madamemouse. Those ladies help me so much and without them this story wouldn't even be here. :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games. If I did, Mockingjay would have been much different...**

**Enjoy everyone! :)**

The remainder of the day passed without incident. Despite wanting to question Peeta, I had no idea how to word anything to him. Luckily, I only saw him briefly at breakfast with our family and left before we had a chance alone. Most of the day I spent with Gale, who acted like his normal self and didn't do anything out of the ordinary, much to my relief.

I returned home in the evening to find my mother and Theo in the kitchen preparing dinner. Her concocting some sort of delicious smelling stew, and him, of course, baking. She was laughing at something he had said, so hard that she was having a difficult time chopping the carrots on the counter in front of her. I hadn't seen her laugh that hard since my father had been alive. I was happy for her, that was for certain, but I felt a sharp pain in my chest. I felt as if my father was being easily replaced, and as much as I liked Theo and how happy he made my mother, a small, selfish part of me couldn't help but wish that this marriage had never happened. I took a step toward the kitchen, ready to interrupt, but Theo stepped toward my mother and wrapped his arms around her waist, placing kisses on her jaw. I averted my eyes and walked up to my bedroom, fearing that one day I would again witness an instance like the one I just had, but see more happiness on my mother's face than she had ever experienced with my father.

Prim was up in our bedroom, lying on her bed reading. I flopped down beside her, sighing and trying to make it obvious that I was bored and could use some company. She understood and placed her book aside.

"What's up?"

"Nothing," I sighed. "What'd you do today?"

"Just stayed at home. Peeta's teaching me how to draw."

"What?" I asked, sitting up and staring at her.

"Yeah. I saw some of his paintings and told him I liked them, and then he asked if I wanted to learn how he did it."

"He _offered _you lessons?" Was I really the only one Peeta was opposed to?

"Yes... why are you so surprised? Peeta's really nice." I barked out a sharp, humorless laugh.

"Yeah, to everyone but-" I was interrupted when our mother opened the door, telling us dinner was ready. I followed Prim downstairs, fuming yet again over Peeta's behavior. He seemed to like Prim and my mother just fine, so what was it about me that was so horrible that he couldn't stand? Embarrassingly, I was also a bit jealous over my sister's ability to make everyone love her from the get-go.

We all sat down for dinner- well, all but one of us. Peeta was missing. I could feel my temperature rising as I sat there, staring at his empty spot.

_How could he be so ungrateful to miss this wonderful meal that had been prepared for us, while most everyone else in District 12 was starving?_

I knew it was absoltely ridiculous to be upset with him over something like that, considering I hadn't even bothered to come home until very late last night. Still... _where was he?_

Around halfway through our meal, we heard the front door open, followed by Peeta's voice finishing the tail end of what I assumed was a joke, considering the booming laughs I heard from his friends. I picked at a chunk of meat as he shouted goodbyes to them. When he entered the room, he flopped into his chair and starting shoveling food onto his plate. After a couple casual "hellos", his father spoke.

"Peeta, do you think you could come home a bit earlier next time? Before we start to eat?" Theo's voice was kind and had not a drop of harshness or annoyance or even scolding.

"Sure," Peeta answered smoothly. He spoke almost immediately, but I didn't miss the quick flit of his eyes towards mine before he did. The anger inside me rekindled.

I ignored Peeta for the rest of the evening. Even when we all sat down for tea in the living room after dinner, I wouldn't even look at him.

"So Katniss," Theo started, turning to me. "How are you at baking?" I laughed.

"Awful, I'd assume. I've never baked a thing in my life and I'm sure I wouldn't be good at it in the least."

"Well, one can always learn," he smiled at me. "And we always could use extra hands around a bakery. How about we have Peeta give you some lessons, show you the ropes?" My eyes immediately shot over to Peeta for the first time since he had come home. His head snapped up when his father had spoken his name, and I held my breathe to see what he would say. Everyone else was laughing and discussing something that I hadn't been paying attention to, totally oblivious to our conversation, while to me it felt like a bomb was going to go off in my chest if Peeta didn't just _say _something.

"Um," he began awkwardly. "I don't think that's really a good idea." He ducked his head, not meeting my eyes. I had calmed down a bit since dinner, thinking I was going a bit too hard on him. Yet every time I was ready to let him off the hook, he would do something like this to make me angry at him all over again.

"Why not?" Theo asked, confused and clearly not understanding that there was something else going on between Peeta and myself. I honestly didn't understand it either.

"Well, um..." I could see Peeta mentally fishing for some kind of excuse to keep from helping me. I felt myself getting more and more upset with him. And to be honest, a bit _hurt _that he wanted to stay away from me so desperately. "I'm just... not the best teacher, you know... Terence would probably be better..."

"Nonsense!" His father said. "You're a great teacher, much better than the rest of us. I'm sure you'll learn a lot from him, don't you think Katniss?" I nodded when he looked at me, not sure what else to do. I wouldn't dare look at Peeta- not only because I was nearly furious with him, but because I was afraid he might see that spoonful of hurt that coursed through my veins.

Our conversation stopped there and morphed into an awkward silence for a few moments. It was broken by the TV snapping on. It was time for the interviews. All TV sets in Panem automatically turned on when something to do with the Games was playing, and would not turn off until it was over. We all turned to face the screen, no more than robots when it came to this.

My eyes glazed over as tributes flashed across the screen- some strong, some weak, some arrogant, some overly confidant. When the tiny girl from our District, whose name I caught be be Pearl, came onto the screen, I tried to lose focus. She was small, reminded me too much of my sister, and probably didn't stand a chance against the Careers and other powerful players in this year's games. That was more than enough to know.

Later that night, as I crawled into bed, all the stress from Peeta and the games weighed me down. I was tired, but my thoughts kept me tossing and turning for at least an hour before my body finally gave in to sleep.

I left early the next day, not wanting to see Theo and have him insist that Peeta start teaching me about baking right away, or, to be honest, even _see _Peeta.

Gale and I goofed off for most of the day, wandering around and not really doing anything. I kept pondering whether or not I should tell him about what had happened with Peeta, but I didn't want to bring it up to him out of no where and make him think I was too upset about it. I _was _too upset, but I didn't want him to know that. But as we were walking through the woods, he asked how things at home where and I gave in and told him.

"Theo wants me to learn how to bake," I started.

"Oh. Well that's cool, I guess. Do you want to learn?"

"I suppose. But he suggested Peeta teach me, and Peeta... was pretty opposed to it."

"What do you mean?" He asked, and I flinched slightly. He sounded mad.

"He said he didn't think it was a very good idea."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Gale was a bit on the protective side, and if anyone he cared about what ever threatened in _any _way, he tended to get very upset.

"I don't know. He said it was because he wasn't a very good teacher, but I think he was just making an excuse. Theo just brushed him off though, so I think he kind of expects that Peeta's going to teach me."

"I don't get why that guy has such a problem with you." He shoved his hands into his pockets, as if to keep himself from punching something.

"I don't know either," I said quietly.

"Well, he's obviously an idiot." I wasn't sure why, but for a moment I almost resented Gale calling Peeta an idiot. I brushed it off, not having a clue why I had any feelings of the sort. But I didn't say anything, just kept walking.

"Katniss?" Gale said after a moment of silence.

"Yeah?"

"If he ever... gets to be too much, or anything, just... let me know." I swallowed, not exactly sure what Gale meant, but nearly certain that whatever it was, it meant he would cause physical harm to Peeta.

I got home late again that night, but not late enough for everyone to be in bed. It was just an hour or two after dinner time, and I hoped that Peeta was out. But, of course, he was the first person for me to see when I stepped inside.

He was sitting in the kitchen, icing cookies. I couldn't help but admire the delicate and intricate patterns he was creating. I set my bag down, and it made thunk on the floor that caused him to look up.

"Well, well, well. Someone's home early," he said sarcastically. I glared at him.

"Where were you?" He asked, his tone slightly softer, but not much.

"With Gale," I said simply, walking over to the sink to get a glass of water.

"You spend a lot of time with him."

"Yes."

"You sure he's not your boyfriend?" I hid my blush behind my glass. Why did he insist on asking questions like this?

"Yes! I'm positive! And why do you keep asking anyway? Why do you care about whether or not Gale and I are more than friends?" He did the same chuckle and shake of the head thing he had done when he had questioned me about the the other night, going back to his frosting and not looking me in the eye.

"Why do you always do that?" I nearly shouted at him. He looked up at me, slightly startled.

"Do _what_?"

"You know _what_! You always demand answers whenever you ask me one of your weird questions and then I ask _you _something and you just laugh all mysteriously and _ignore_ me!" I panted, having said all that in nearly one breathe. "It's frustrating and _rude_, and I'd appreciate if you'd stop!" I probably sounded a bit frantic, but I was _feeling _frantic, so I hoped that I'd maybe gotten something through his thick head.

He stared at me a moment, then blew a breath slowly out his mouth.

"Whew. You've got some fire in you."

"What does _that _mean?"

"Nothing. I need to show you how to bake bread." He immediately walked to the pantry and started pulling ingredients off of the shelves. I followed him in disbelief.

"You just- I- what?" I said, cringing at how I made myself sound stupid.

"Bake? I'm supposed to teach you, remember?" He talked to me like I was a small child, easily confused. I hated it. "I wanted to do it earlier, but you decided to make yourself absent."

"Well for your information," I said, crossing my arms,"I was out on purpose since you seemed so opposed to helping me. I was doing _you _a favor."

"That may have been your intention, but it really wasn't that much of a favor. Go get the butter." He placed a hand on my shoulder and gently pushed me in the direction he wanted me to go.

"You know what?" I told him as I returned and set the butter on the counter.

"What?"

"You're like two different people. Both equally annoying." He laughed.

"Oh really?"

"Yes. One of them insists on annoying me and the other just hates me." I bit my tongue after I spoke, not really having intended to be that direct. He stopped moving around for a moment, not saying anything. When he spoke, his voice was softer than I'd heard it before.

"I _don't _hate you Katniss." I didn't know how to respond, but he looked at me like he was expecting some sort of an answer.

"Well, you act like it."

"I don't. Okay? And we better start if we want this to be done before midnight."

We were strictly business as Peeta showed me how to make a simple batch of biscuits, the cheap ones that tasted bland and were only bought by poor people, but were simple to make. While we worked, we didn't talk about anything personal. But I was surprised with his lack of sarcasm and sharp comments. His voice was surprisingly gentle and he was patient with me when I asked silly questions. I knew he hadn't been truthful the other night with his father because he _was_ a really good teacher.

Once our biscuits were out of the oven (they tasted just as they usually did- plain and dry), I told Peeta goodnight and went upstairs to take a shower. I stood beneath the stream of warm water, trying to make sense out of what had happened. Everything that had had to do with Peeta was just so... confusing. I didn't know what to think. Part of me thought he _did _hate me, but was covering himself up to keep from upsetting our parents. But then I thought back to our baking session, when he was being so gentle and patient and unlike the Peeta I had become accustomed to. Not to mention that day with the bread all those years ago. If you hated someone, I couldn't imagine being able to treat them that way at all. Yet at the same time, I couldn't imagine treating someone you _like _in the way that he had been, either.

I went to bed still frustrated and confused, finally deciding before I fell asleep that maybe Peeta was just insane.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hola everyone! Sorry it's taken a while for me to get this chapter out, I've been pretty pressed for time lately and writing is unfortunately pushed to the back burner when that happens. :( But I really think you guys will enjoy this chapter, it's certainly my favorite so far. :)**

**Many thanks to my lovely betas, madamemouse and tweety4be.**

**Disclaimer: It's **_**still**_** not mine...**

No one left the house on the day of the games. None of us were really up to doing anything. There was always a heavy, looming sense of dread right before they began.

Gale and I often watched the games together at either his or my home, but I had gently told him I wanted to stay at the bakery, and he told me he preferred to stay at his house with his family. He didn't seem to mind that we wouldn't watch them together, and I was glad that I hadn't hurt his feelings. There was just something about the bakery that was really comforting, and while I was sure the games would be just as horrible as they always were, I'd rather watch them somewhere where I felt warm and safe.

By noon, everyone in the house was holed up in their respective rooms, except for me. I was in the living room curled up on the couch, not doing anything particular and trying to think of something _other _than the games we would be witnessing in a few short hours. I couldn't stop thinking about who would die in the initial bloodbath, hoping that it wouldn't be the tiny girl from 12...

When I heard someone say my name, I jumped and, embarrassingly, squeaked. I twisted to see who it was, on edge from imagining how tributes would die tonight. Peeta stood in the doorway, chuckling and trying to make it look like he wasn't.

"Sorry," he said, followed by another soft laugh.

"You startled me," I told him, trying to get my heart rate back to normal.

"Yeah, I kinda noticed. You wanna... do something? Bake some bread maybe? I think I'm going to go crazy if I stay alone with my thoughts any longer." Peeta asking me to do something with him? Strange. But I definitely understood what he said about being alone with your thoughts. So I nodded my head and followed him into the kitchen.

Bread, as it turned out, was a lot more complicated to make than the biscuits we had done last night. "Yeast" was a new, confusing concept for me, but Peeta patiently explained it to me several times and answered all my questions. He had me knead the dough myself, and told me to keep going each time I wanted to stop from tired arms, though I didn't see any difference in the dough from two minutes after I started to when he finally decided it was finished.

Peeta put the dough into a bowl and placed a cloth on top of it, telling me we needed to wait for it to rise for at least thirty minutes before we baked it. We sat at the table in silence. I felt like I should say something, but I wasn't sure what. He had been much nicer to me today, and I wanted it to stay that way, since he wasn't bad company when he wasn't driving me nuts.

"This is always the worst day," Peeta said quietly, pulling me out of my thoughts. While he had been thinking about the games, I had been thinking about him, ironically the only time I had _stopped _thinking about them all day.

"I know," I replied simply, not really wanting to talk about it.

"It feels worse than all the rest of it because you know they're coming, and you can't stop thinking about them. The dread makes you feel sick all day, but when they actually happen, it's almost easier. So, it's like they're worse before they even start. If that makes any sense." He looked at me expectantly, wanting to see if I understood any of what he said.

"I agree," I told him truthfully. "It seems like all our emotions are felt before they begin, but when they actually happen, it's so terrible that we just... turn off."

"Exactly," Peeta said, nodding. "Exactly." He didn't say anything else, and I waited a minute to change the subject.

"Peeta?"

"Yeah?"

"What happened to your mom?" Peeta's mother was known as the witch around town. Nobody liked her, and I couldn't understand why someone as nice as Theo had married her. I only knew that she had died some years back, shortly after my father had. I got nervous when Peeta didn't answer right away, hoping it wasn't something that he was opposed to discussing.

"She died of pneumonia one winter. She didn't get any help until her lungs were so full of fluid that it was too late." He cringed. "Everyone in town seemed pretty happy about it, though." He shook his head slightly, staring down at his lap. It was true, what he said about people being happy about his mother's death. She was a mean, nasty woman that was never friendly with anyone and always snapped at people when they spoke to her.

"Do you miss her?" I asked Peeta, supposing that maybe there was a softer side to his mother that I hadn't seen.

"Sometimes. In weird moments, when I don't expect it. I mean, she was mean, but she was still my mother. My brothers miss her too sometimes, I think, but I doubt my father does."

"Why not?"

"He never loved her. It was always your mother. When I was little, he'd take me to school and point you out, telling me that he had wanted to marry your mother, but she had fell in love with a miner." My eyes widened.

"Really?" I would have never guessed that Theo had loved my mother for so long. Peeta nodded.

"I think that's why my mother was so bitter. She loved my father, but she knew that his heart belonged to someone else, and she had to live with it every day."

"That's really sad," I told Peeta, suddenly feeling awful for his poor mother.

"It is. But I supposed that's the way love works. It's determined to make you

desperate for the one you're not allowed to have."

Just as I tried to wrap my brain around what he had just said, Peeta stood and announced it was time to check on the dough. I followed him to the counter, surprised to find that the dough was nearly double it's original size. We shaped it into two loaves and put them into the oven.

Once we had sat down again to wait for the bread to bake, I realized how much I wanted to talk to him again. When he wasn't being rude or arrogant, he was really quite pleasant to be around. We had been talking about awful things, but I didn't feel uncomfortable like I normally did with everyone else. But even though I wanted to speak with him again about something, anything really, I was nervous about being the first to say something. A small part of me was scared to bring something up that would rub him the wrong way and make him go back to the Peeta that didn't like me.

We sat in silence for a while, a silence that got heavier and more uncomfortable with each passing second. Right when I was about to excuse myself to the bathroom, just to get away from it, Peeta thankfully spoke and broke the awful quiet.

"Do you want a cookie?"

"What?" I spoke, then cringed. Why was it that I was constantly saying "what" to everything he said?

"You know... cookies? We have some leftover from yesterday."

"Um... okay." I watched him as he got up and retrieved them. They were the ones I had seen him decorating yesterday. Even as he handed me one, I couldn't help but admire the designs yet again.

"I've never had a cookie before," I admitted to him before I took a bite.

"Really? Well, then you'd better eat up, because you have a lot of catching up to do." I smiled and took a bite. It was really good, as I had expected. The cookie itself wasn't terribly sugary, but the icing added just the right amount of sweetness to make it perfect.

"You like it?" Peeta asked me. I nodded enthusiastically, popping another bite into my mouth.

"Cookies have always been my favorite, ever since I was little." Seeking a conversation starter, I asked him what living in a bakery had been like when he was young, as I was sure were so very different from my experiences as a small child. We talked for a long time, stopping only when it was time for dinner. After we ate, however, it was time to head to living room to witness the most dreadful part of our world.

I curled up next to Prim on the couch, and our TV snapped on at exactly seven o'clock. President Snow was the first to grace our screen. I didn't listen to a thing he said. He was a slimy, gross, little man and I hated every part of him.

Once he was finished speaking, we were cut to the arena. It was a forest with tall trees and little shrubbery. There was a large winding lake and a small field, where the cornucopia was. I was glad that it wasn't something terribly unfamiliar to the people of our district. Most people from 12 were able to handle themselves in a forest.

The tributes appeared in the arena, and almost immediately, the blood started to flow. The camera focused on Cato, the male from two, who was first to the cornucopia. He quickly grabbed a large green backpack and a knife. The boy from 6, who was just reaching for a bag, was the first person Cato saw and, therefore, the first for him to kill. He stabbed him right in the heart, and it almost made me feel sick to think that he knew exactly where to stab someone to cut right through their heart. The boy fell to the ground, and shortly after a canon sounded. The first one dead.

The screen cut around to multiple scenarios, but it was hard to tell who they were trying to focus on because there was so much chaos everywhere. Marvel and Glimmer, both from 1, had gotten what they needed from the cornucopia but had not yet left the area. Marvel had succeeded in knocking out the girl from 3, and Glimmer finished her off for him with a knife to the stomach.

The boy from our district, who had looked somewhat promising, was running to the forest with supplies. But right when he reached the trees, multiple arrows shot him in the back. Another canon. My eyes searched the screen for Pearl, but she wasn't anywhere to be seen.

It was hard to focus on any one thing. There was lots of blood, and so much noise. Screams, shouts, canons, and the occasional cracking of bones that always made me cringe. I had watched the games my entire life, but the sounds of people dying never got any easier.

Finally, after nearly twenty minutes, the bloodbath was finally over. There was a sidebar on the screen that flashed the images of the tributes who had been killed so far. The girls from three and four, boys from five and six, the girl from eight, boy from nine, and boy from twelve were all dead. That left seventeen players at this point. It also left me knowing that Pearl was out there, somewhere.

The screen flashed to the careers. They had their usual alliance already formed, and were stalking around the arena, as the usually did, looking for more players to off. Glimmer led the group, her bows and arrow ready. She had already come across the girl from ten, who had escaped the cornucopia but had nothing to show for it. She had been running around frantically until Glimmer had shot her.

The cameras moved around, trying to find some action. _Finally, _they came to Pearl, who looked like she had fared pretty well at the cornucopia. She had gotten a backpack that had a sleeping bag, empty water bottle, matches, and a bag of dried fruit. She has also retrieved the other set of bow and arrows. Being so tiny and weak looking, the other tributes had probably disregarded her from the beginning. But I was thinking maybe, _maybe, _she had a chance.

The tributes from eleven, Thresh and Rue, were next to be showcased. They had apparently formed an alliance for the time being. I was glad. Rue was small and young, much like Prim and Pearl, and it was a bit of a relief that she had someone to protect her, at least for now. I didn't allow myself to think about what would happen after. They were only on for a little while, just long enough to let everyone witness Thresh killing the boy from seven.

For the rest of the evening, everything was focused mainly on the careers, with occasional flashes to the other tributes. The only other death that occurred was at the hands of the boy from two. The night was apparently very cold, and the girl from five had lit a fire to warm herself. The light in the darkness, of course, attracted the careers and they shot her, ignoring her pleads for them to spare her. In my opinion, it was the worst moment of the games so far. I hated seeing the look of fright and fear and hopelessness on her face before they killed her. Pearl had hidden herself safely in the branches of a tall tree. I had to smile. That was exactly what I would have done.

Finally, the games were over for the night. They played twenty-four seven, of course, for those who couldn't get enough of them, but in the morning there would be a recap if anything interesting happened during the night. As of that evening, there were only fifteen tributes left in the games. This year's first day had had quite a massacre.

The minute we were able to shut off the TV, we did so, and nearly everyone left the room, wanting to run from what we had just witnessed. I lingered, along with Peeta, Terence, and Prim. We didn't say much, and soon after Terence and Prim excused themselves to bed. Once they were gone, Peeta came and sat next to me.

"You okay?" He asked. I almost smiled. Where had the Peeta I'd come to know gone?

"I guess. But I don't think anyone can really be okay after seeing that."

He nodded, his big blue eyes full of sorrow.

"I hate that both of those little girls are in the games. It's bad enough knowing that they don't have much hope in the first place, but knowing that one has to die to give the other even a _chance_ at living..." He shook his head and rubbed his face with his hands. I nodded, wondering how it was that we seemed to be thinking the exact same thing.

"It's... hard," I squeaked. My voice cracked, and it sounded like I was about to cry. I _wasn't—_I never cried—but I flushed from embarrassment from sounding like it. He lifted his head to look at me. A strange look graced his face. One that I couldn't place. Was it... concern? Or something else?

"Oh, Katniss," He sighed, in a voice one would expect someone to use with someone who was emotionally distraught. He lifted his hand, like he was ready to touch my face. I closed my eyes, ready to feel the warmth of his hand on my cheek...

My eyes snapped open to the sound of his throat loudly clearing. His hands were clasped tightly in his lap.

"Yes. Yes, it is. Well, um, I'm going to bed now." He stood quickly and hurried out of the room.

I sat there, completely stunned, wondering what in the world had just happened. Peeta sounded so caring and concerned when he had said my name. So unlike anything that I'd ever imagined to come from him aimed at me. And then reaching out to touch me... what had ever possessed him to do that? And what has ever possessed me to _want _it?

When I finally made it to bed, I couldn't fall asleep, despite having been exhausted earlier. But it wasn't the horrors of the games that had kept me up. It was confusing thoughts surrounding Peeta that kept me from rest.

**If anyone's wondering at this point, Pearl is essentially taking Katniss' place in the games, but while several things will be the same as the original book I will be taking some liberties and mixing some stuff up. The ending will be different as well- no romance since Pearl's only twelve. **

**If you have any questions, feel free to ask. :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello lovelies! Thank you so much for all the reviews you left last chapter, they really brighten my day! :) I have had a couple of the same questions asked several times, so I'm going to address those for anyone else who's wondering.**

**1. The Rating.**

**Yes, I am aware that the rating is M, and yes, I know if doesn't apply to the story at this point. BUT, it will apply later on in the fic. (Katniss and Peeta are two hormonal teenagers living under the same roof, I don't know how they could NOT get sexual ;P)**

**2. Peeta's Behavior.**

**Yes, he is very OOC so far. This is intentional. He's going through a lot right now, so he's bound to get stressed and start acting strange (like in this chapter), but gradually he'll morph back into the Peeta we know and love. :)**

**If you guys have any other questions/concerns, feel free to let me know! :)**

**A big kiss to my lovely betas, tweety4be, who corrected this chapter super fast AND shares my love for Alex Pettyfer, and madamemouse, who is super supportive with this story and has an absolutely brilliant fanfic up for the Darkest Powers Series (seriously guys, check it out! She's under my favorite authors.) :)**

**Whew, now that that novel of an author's note it over, I hope you enjoy the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Hunger Games do not belong to me.**

The following day, I got up early, not feeling rested at all from my troubled sleep. I made my way down to the kitchen and began to make breakfast for everyone. I could hear the TV quietly humming in the living room, but I wasn't quite ready yet to go see what was going on in the Hunger Games. Instead, I settled on tuning it out with the popping of bacon and eggs on the griddle.

I caught myself staring at the doorway several times, willing Peeta to enter the room. I wanted to see him; why, I wasn't entirely sure.

I didn't end up seeing him until the rest of our family came down. He was the last to enter the room, and avoided my gaze the entire time. He ate quickly and muttered something about meeting someone. He left within fifteen minutes.

I slumped in my chair. Clearly, whatever had happened between us last night had thrown us back to square one. I picked at the rest of my food, having lost my appetite over my situation with Peeta. Not to mention the fact that I would need to start watching the games again very soon.

I didn't have to work that day, and instead of spending the entire day watching the games at the bakery in the absence of Peeta, I decided to go visit Gale. The minute I stepped outside, I became exposed to the games. The entire town was plastered in huge screens, each one displaying them. Every store also had to have a TV for them to be broadcasted-the store section of the bakery had one as well, so that the customers and whoever was working wouldn't miss any anything. There was just no way to escape them.

When I got to Gale's, he and his family were all situated around the TV. They rose and came to greet me when I came in, and I handed a loaf of grainy bread to Gale's mother, who sliced it and passed everyone a piece. After the usual greetings, I asked Gale what had happened since last night.

"Not much," he told me. "Nothing exciting, anyway. They've been flipping back and forth like crazy, trying to find something to focus on."

"Guess all the tributes are worn out from last night." Gale nodded. We sat and watched for a good twenty minutes, but it was just more of the same, so we decided to leave the house for a while.

We walked through the Seam, just for the sake of something to do. We couldn't go into the forest-Peacekeepers were always high on guard during the games-so we had to settle for entertainment elsewhere. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to be found.

All the while we were wandering around, my eyes kept flashing not to the screens displaying games, but to clocks. Time never went by fast when you wanted it to, and I couldn't help but want it to be evening, so I could go home and possible talk to Peeta. I just couldn't understand what was going on in that head of his, and he intrigued me to the point of driving me nuts.

The speakers connected to the large screens suddenly became louder, and people started to gather around the screens, indicating something was beginning to happen in the games. It turned out to be a fire. Manmade, of course. Things like this always happened when there wasn't enough excitement in the games.

First, the focus was on the careers. They scrambled around trying to get their things in order and several of them got burned in the process. It was pretty much the same for all the other tributes who were, quite literally, under the line of fire. But when Pearl was put on the screen, my heart leapt to my throat.

She was still tied in her tree, sleeping. The fire hadn't reached her yet, but smoke was beginning to dance around her. I held my breath, plagued with worry. I vaguely noticed something gripping my hand.

Finally, she woke. It took her a minute to realize what was happening, but once she did, she untied herself and grabbed her things with a speed I wasn't expecting. She jumped from the tree and ran, but the flames caught up with her quickly. The fire played around her tiny body until she reached the small lake.

She jumped in, gasping and shuddering. She slowly peeled her pants off, revealing a large burn on her thigh that was already starting to blister, along with several other tiny ones on her hands and arms. I cringed. I hated burns more than any other injury-even the tiniest ones were impossible to ignore. Let alone the only ones I had experience with were tiny ones from getting too close to a flame on the stove when I was younger, not something huge and serious like the one Pearl had.

She sat there with her leg and hands in the water for a while, wincing visibly every time she tried to get out. Her head shot up after a moment, and the camera focused on what she had seen. The Careers had arrived on the other shore, but, surprisingly, they weren't the focus immediately. The Gamemakers waited until Pearl cut off the portion of her pants that would be covering the burn, soak it in water, and crawl up into a tree.

The Careers, as it turned out, were in a lot worse shape than Pearl was. Several of them had more serious burns, wailing even when they were submersed in the lake. They tried to find herbs and leaves to help the pain, but it didn't look like they were having any success.

Everyone else in the Games hadn't had any trouble with the fire, which had magically disappeared after harming several players. Thresh and Rue had been on the opposite side on the arena, as had the rest of the tributes aside from the Careers and Pearl.

The action seemed to be finished for the time being, and I let myself be brought back to District 12, my muscles loosening as I relaxed. Only then did I realize that Gale had been holding my hand. I gently slipped it out of his grasp, staring at him with what I imagined was a befuddled expression. He only gave me a tiny smile before he led us away from giant screens and down towards his house.

Later that night at Gale's house, I started to ache for home. I continually surprised myself with how comfortable I felt at the bakery. Right when I was about to excuse myself for the night and leave, something began to happen on their TV screen. You always knew when something interesting was happening, it automatically turned up.

We all gathered around the television, and I was surprised to find Pearl centered. She was up in a tree, but this time, she was right above the Careers. They clearly hadn't noticed her, but she was watching them intently. I couldn't understand why-I would have found it way too risky to be anywhere near them. After a few minutes though, she packed up all her things and climbed higher up the tree, and a tracker jacker nest came into view.

My stomach lurched. We didn't even have tracker jackers in District 12, but everyone here still knew how dangerous they were and that they should be avoided at all costs. My fists clenched with worry and I was somewhat aware of Gale rubbing my hand, but at that point I didn't even care. As it became clear that Pearl was climbing straight toward the hive, I wondered if she was at all sane.

The hive was at the end of a long branch, and Pearl settled herself where the branch molded into the truck. She pulled out a knife, and my brow furrowed in confusion. Only when she started to cut the branch did I realize what she was doing.

Her plan was to send the hive (and lots of angry tracker jackers) right onto the Careers. It was genius, but also incredibly risky, and I could only hope that it would work.

The branch was thick, but when it finally came down, chaos ensued. Pearl started jumping from tree to tree, trying to get away from the tracker jackers, but still getting caught by some of their stingers. The Careers, though, were in much worse trouble. They were all scrambling around, trying to gather their things as they screamed in pain from both the stings and their burns.

Glimmer and the boy from three didn't get away. Glimmer had had the worst of the burns, and after some strings she just collapsed on the ground. The boy had been sitting right next to where the hive fell, so he got the most stings out of everyone. Both of them shortly passed out, and continued to get stung even after they did so. Pus started to ooze out of the stings before they finally died and the cannons sounded.

The rest of the Careers got away, but in much worse condition than they had been in before. I heard somewhere that people got delusional after getting stung by tracker jackers, and from the way they were bumping into things as they ran and getting startled by trees, this was clearly true. Pearl didn't seem quite right either, and I hoped she would stop jumping through the trees before she fell out of them and got herself killed.

The screens panned out and Thresh and Rue came into focus, fairly close to where the incident with the tracker jackers had occurred. They were at a safe distance but had clearly seen what had happened, and knew that Pearl was responsible. I felt nervous all over again, hoping that they wouldn't see her as a threat and decide to kill her.

Once everything seemed to be settling down, Pearl was the main focus again. She was sitting in a tree, quietly whimpering over her burns and stings, which I imagined where flaring with pain at this point. It was hard to believe that someone who looked so helpless, so soft and innocent, had just sent a tracker jacker hive down on a group of people, resulting in two deaths and several injuries.

A small package attached to a parachute landed in her lap. She opened it and found a small jar of burn ointment. She rubbed it on her thigh and hands and instantly sighed in relief. Mentors controlled what was sent to tributes during the games, and I sent a silent thank you to Haymitch, thinking that he must not be so bad after all.

The TV quieted and the games appeared to be over for the night, and I said goodbye to Gale and his family. Gale usually walked me to the door at night, but this time he asked if he could walk me home. I told him of course, and we were quiet for the first minute or so as we walked to the bakery.

"Who are you rooting for?" Gale asked me.

"Pearl," I told him, giving him a side-long glace and thinking the answer was clear and obvious. "I didn't think she had much of a chance at the beginning, but after tonight I think she might actually win this. And she just reminds me so much of Prim." After a short pause I spoke again, almost as an afterthought. "What about you?"

"Thresh," he said, surprising me.

"Why?" I had expected him to say Pearl as well. It almost felt traitorous for him to say someone else, because in doing that, he was also saying he wished for her to die.

"I don't know really. I just... like him, I guess. I mean, I can see us being friends if we lived in the same District. And, to be completely honest, he has the best chance of all of them."

I didn't say anything after that. Gale and I usually agreed on everything, and I felt uncomfortable when we didn't. Not to mention that what he had told me had upset me, which was, I had to admit, a bit silly.

The closer we got to the bakery, the more I was looking forward to seeing Peeta. I had been wanting to speak with him all day, but now I wanted to ask him who _he_ would like to see win, and if he thought Pearl had a chance. And, though I almost didn't want to admit it, see if I agreed with his response more than Gale's.

The light was on in the bakery, and Gale walked me. I had expected it to be Peeta who was in the kitchen, and it was. The faintest smile played on his face when he saw me come in, but it dropped when he saw Gale. Gale ignored him completely, which I thought was rude before I remembered that Gale still thought that Peeta and I did not like each other.

I expected Gale to just tell me goodnight and leave as he usually did, but instead, he hugged me. I stiffened, but he didn't seem to notice. That just wasn't how Gale and I worked, and it was even more awkward with Peeta behind us. I was relieved when he pulled away, but then he kissed me on the cheek making me feel even more awkward. He didn't wait for a response from me, just said "night" and walked out the door.

I was blushing when I turned around. Even though Gale was like a brother to me and I had no idea what to even think of this whole situation, he was still the first boy that had ever kissed me. I looked at Peeta, wanting to talk with him and forget all the strangeness that surrounded that event, but when I met his eyes, I was surprised to find anger burning behind them.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing," He said sarcastically. "Nothing at all. Not like I'm being lied to or anything, you know, nothing like that at all."

"Peeta, what are you talking about?" I stepped towards him, but he stepped away from me.

"How many times have you told me you weren't dating Gale? And then _that... _I don't know Katniss. I just... didn't expect you to lie to me like that." He shook his head and walked toward the door.

"_That's _what this is about?" I asked, incredulous. "I was _not _lying to you Peeta. And I don't see why that should matter to you anyway!"

He sighed and opened his mouth to speak again, but I didn't want to hear any more of what he had to say. I shoved past him and ran up the stairs, locking myself into my room, and quietly, so as not to disturb a sleeping Prim, changed into pajamas and jumped into bed.

I pulled the covers over my head, forcing back stupid tears that burned behind my eyelids. I refused to let them fall-I wasn't a crier, and I'd never let myself cry over something so petty as hurt feelings. But Peeta's words and accusation had hurt me terribly, and my chest kept constricting every time I thought about how I'd wanted to see him all day, and then he'd crushed me like a bug with just a few simple sentences.


	6. Chapter 6

** Hola everyone! I hope you all have been doing well. I've been busy (as always) and writer's block has reared it's ugly head more than once in the past couple weeks. Parts of thischapter, though, I had fun writing, and I hope you guys have as much fun reading it. :)**

**Also, what do you guys think of the actors cast for the Hunger Games movie? (For those of you who haven't heard, Jennifer Lawrence got the role of Katniss, Josh Hutcherson as Peeta, and Liam Hemsworth as Gale.) I personally, am very disappointed in who was chosen (especially Josh as Peeta. AHHH!) so I've kind of lost hope in the movie at this point. :(**

**As always, a giant thank you to my betas, tweety4be and madamemouse (who, despite her hectic life, got this chapter beta-ed in less than twenty-four hours. She's amazing!)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games. They belong to the brilliant Suzanne Collins.**

**Okay, I'll shut up now so that you guys can read. Enjoy, everyone! :)**

I saw Peeta again at breakfast, but this time it was me who refused to meet his eyes. I cuddled my leg up to my chest, head resting on my knee, and picked at my food, still feeling upset over last night and not having much of an appetite. Peeta volunteered to wash the dishes once everyone, aside from myself, was done, and since I was still eating that meant we were alone in the kitchen together. Once the our family had cleared the room, he came and sat down next to me. I refused to look at him still, keeping my eyes glued to my scrambled eggs.

"Hey," he said slowly. "I'm sorry about last night. I didn't mean to upset you."

"Well, for not meaning to you certainly did a great job of it." I stood up and dumped the remainder of my food into Buttercup's, my sister's cat's, dish. I was getting upset all over again, and I didn't want him to see the large affect his few words had had on me. I put my plate in the sink and tried to make a run upstairs, but he stopped me by gently grabbing my elbow.

"Katniss, please, just listen okay?" Now he looked all hurt and I was starting to feel bad, which was just ridiculous because he was the one who hurt my feelings in the first place, not the other way around. "I'm just really... stressed out right now, and seeing you with Gale..." He trailed off.

"What's wrong with me being with Gale?" I asked defensively crossing my arms over my chest. His head snapped up to my eyes and the expression on his face was curiously like that of a child who had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"I—I mean, because, I just thought you hadn't been... you know... truthful with me, and it, um, upsets me. I haven't really been myself these past few days, and that was just kind of the icing on the cake, so to speak. I'm really, really sorry to have upset you, Katniss. Forgive me?"

I knew I shouldn't have, but he was being so sweet and nice suddenly, that I couldn't help but say yes. "Okay," I sighed, expecting I would regret the word the minute it left my mouth but was surprised it didn't. He smiled.

"Come 'ere," he said, and pulled me in for a hug. As I wrapped my arms around his waist, I couldn't help but think about how hugging Peeta was so different from hugging Gale. Gale's arms were huge, and the large muscles made them feel hard and rough. Peeta's arms were muscular, but not so much to make them feel as though they weren't gentle. Gale was so tall that my head hit him mid-chest, but Peeta was a bit shorter, and my head rested comfortably on his shoulder. He was warm and cozy and smelled like cinnamon and cloves. I found myself not wanting to let go, and only did once he started to pull away.

"Katniss," he started once we had separated. "We haven't really gotten off on the right foot, and I want to change that. I'd really like for us... to be... friends." I smiled.

"I'd like that too." He grinned at me.

"Come on. Let's do something different today. I want to show you the most fun part of baking."

The most fun part of baking, as it turned out, was decorative frosting. Peeta got some paper and pencils to give me drawing lessons, telling me it was necessary to be able to draw on paper before attempting to draw with frosting. We sat in the living room together, only occasionally glancing at the games on the TV. We were alone—our parents and siblings were working in the bakery, and the past three days had been my and Peeta's time off. I wondered silently if it was coincidence or not that Peeta and I weren't working on the same days.

After about an hour of Peeta trying to get me to draw simple swirls and me failing miserably, I leaned back against the couch cushions and groaned.

"You said this was going to be fun," I complained.

"It _is _fun," he insisted with a laugh. "I'm helping you discover your inner artist. What could be more fun than that?"

"My inner artist must be pretty deeply hidden," I said, referring to my awful attempts at recreating the flawless designs he had sketched out in a matter of minutes.

"We'll find her. I promise." He looked at me and smiled, and I noticed for the first time was a lovely shade of blue his eyes were. I smiled at him for a moment too long, only looking away when I surprised myself by wishing he would lean over and hug me again.

"Katniss?" he started.

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you something?" His fingers holding his pencil trembled slightly, and the design he had been drawing was shifted slightly out of shape. His hand was usually extremely steady; that was the first time I had seen that happen.

"Sure," I said, answering his question.

"You're going to want to kill me," He warned, causing me to sit up and look at him quizzically.

"Why would I want to kill you?" Even though I said it with a smile, I was honestly curious.

"Well... I just have to ask okay? When you told me that you weren't dating Gale, was that true?" I groaned and rubbed my face with my hands.

"_Yes, _Peeta. How many times do I have to tell you? I don't like Gale as anything more than a friend. He's like a _brother _to me."

"He kissed you last night," He contradicted, his eyes slightly narrowed as if he didn't like the thought of Gale kissing me.

"Um, yeah, I guess he did. That was really strange, actually. He's never done anything like that before," I paused, still wondering what had brought on that kiss last night. "But why do you care so much anyways?" I finally asked.

"I—I don't. I was just... you know, it was kind of hard to believe you, from what I had seen." He paused. "Do you have a boyfriend at all?" He asked finally, looking sheepish and not meeting my eyes. I laughed.

"No. Should I?"

"No," he said immediately, giving me a smile at last. "Have you _ever_ had a boyfriend?" I blushed at the question.

"No," I said simply, still trying to hide the reddening in my cheeks. What I didn't tell him was _why. _That I was terrified of falling in love and getting married, which always leads to having children. I would never have a child in this terrible world and expose them to the horrors of the Hunger Games. I didn't even like to _think _about having a child.

"Never? Not even been kissed?" Peeta said, bringing me out of my thoughts of dead children. "I don't believe you," he said with an impish smile to let me know he was teasing.

"No!" I laughed. "I have absolutely no experience whatsoever with romance, okay? Happy now?" He laughed, but gave no other response. "What about you? You probably have a girlfriend, right?" I couldn't explain why my chest tightened so uncomfortably at the thought of Peeta having a girlfriend.

"No. Not now anyways."

"What do you mean, not now?"

"I've had a couple before."

"Oh."

"They weren't anything special. I mean, I didn't really feel much for them, you know?" I nodded like I did know, which of course, I didn't. We stopped the conversation there, and Peeta went back to guiding me in drawing. I did even worse than when we had started, because I kept wondering who Peeta's past girlfriends had been.

Someone from the Seam? Probably not. Delly Cartwright maybe. Her parents owned the shoe shop in town, and I had seen her and Peeta together many times. But she wasn't exactly the prettiest girl in District 12, and I didn't know if Peeta was one of those men who only liked women who were thin and beautiful. On that note, I instantly thought of my friend Madge. Her father was the mayor, so she was wealthy, and also very pretty. Strangely, I didn't like the thought of her with Peeta, either. I mentally went through all the girls we had gone to school with, but I couldn't come up with anyone who I imagined Peeta would be involved with.

Or any that I liked the idea of him being with, either.

Peeta and I sat in silence for a while, the only words spoken being the occasional pointer he gave me on a drawing technique. It was quiet in the room, just the muffled sounds of the bakery and the quiet humming of the television, which was turned down as low as possible. So when it suddenly became much louder, I nearly jumped out of my seat.

Peeta gathered the art supplies out my firm grip and set them on the coffee table. We watched silently as Rue stalked up a tree towards an unsuspecting Pearl. She held her knife tightly in her right hand, ready to attack. Pearl's bow and arrow were hanging on a branch beside her. There would be no time for her to grab them once she realized that Rue was about to kill her. I squeezed my hands into fists at my sides, my stomach churning as I waited for the inevitable.

But then, Rue did something that shocked me. She stretched out her left arm and tapped Pearl on the shoulder. Pearl whirled around, nearly falling out of the tree as she grabbed her bow and arrow.

"I'm _not _here to kill you!" Rue said quickly, holding her knife into front of her protectively.

"Then why _are _you here?" Pearl asked, keeping her bow aimed at Rue's chest.

"I saw what you did with the tracker jackers. And I thought, maybe, we'd all have a better chance if we worked together." Pearl lowered her bow just slightly.

"We? Who else?"

"Just Thresh. He's the other from my district."

"Why should I team up with you? I think I've got a pretty good chance by myself." Pearl said defensively, her eyes glancing between Rue's still raised knife and her own poised arrow.

"You have stings, don't you?" Rue asked, glancing at Pearl's hands, which were swollen with welts from the bugs.

"Um... yes. I do. Why?"

"They hurt, don't they?"

"Of course they hurt!" Pearl snapped.

"I can show you how to make them stop hurting. If you'll come." Pearl hesitated, but apparently the need for relief of the stings won out. Both girls lowered their weapons, and then reached out and shook hands. Rue waited for Pearl to gather her things and then they crawled out of the tree together.

"Did your mentor send you an ointment? For the stings, I mean." Pearl asked.

"No. We have tracker jackers in our District, and there is an herb that helps with the pain and infection." She reached down and plucked some leaves off of the ground, stuck them in her mouth and chewed as they walked. After a moment, she spit the chewed leaves into her hand. She grabbed Pearl's left hand and started applying the mush to Pearl's wounds. She sighed from relief, and almost instantly, large amount of pus started to run down her hand. I cringed, never having been good with pus, and I felt Peeta shift beside me, apparently not liking the sight either.

Once Pearl's stings were cared for, the girls began to walking again—where they were headed, I wasn't sure.

"Um..." Rue began slowly, a guilty look on her face. I panicked slightly, and so did Pearl. "Thresh doesn't exactly know that I came to get you. He thought that our alliance would be better if it was just the two of us." Pearl opened her mouth to speak, but Rue stopped her. "He saw what you did with the nest though, and he was impressed. So I'm sure he'll be alright with it, because it gives us all a better chance, I think." Pearl looked doubtful, as was I.

When Thresh came into view, he was gutting a rabbit, a bit violently, somewhat hidden beneath a huge, low-hanging tree branch. When he heard the crack of a twig that signaled Rue and Pearl's arrival, his head snapped up.

"Where have you been?" He asked as loudly as he dared, clearly furious. "And what are _you _doing here?" He said, glaring at Pearl.

"She's in our alliance now," Rue stated proudly, standing tall.

"_Our _alliance? If it was _our _alliance, shouldn't you have asked me about this first, before you went out and got her?" Pearl hung back, eyes wide, looking like she was ready to run at any minute. I didn't blame her.

"You would have said no," Rue said defensively.

"How do you know? I very well may have said yes, and it was incredibly stupid to go out there all by yourself. _Never _do it again, understand?" Rue nodded mildly, and Thresh reached out and pulled her in for a hug, holding her close. I was more than surprised. I hadn't seen Thresh as being particularly caring, or even a bit affectionate. He pulled back and cupped her face in his hands, forcing her to look at him.

"Never go off again by yourself. It's too dangerous, even if you have a weapon. Understand?" Rue nodded, and he dropped his hands. Thresh clearly cared for Rue very much, not in a romantic way, but in the way an older brother loves his little sister. They weren't related, and as far as I knew, they hadn't even known each other before the games. It was terrible, I thought. Even if one lived, they would have to go without the other.

Thresh stepped away from Rue and addressed Pearl.

"Well," he said. "I guess you're with us now?"

"Guess so," she told him, her eyes nervously flitting from his face to the ground. "I mean, unless you'd rather I left."

"Nah," he shrugged. "The thing you did with the tracker jackers was pretty clever. I think we could use your wits." He half smiled at her before turning and going back to his rabbit.

Peeta and I watched for a while longer as the three settled for the evening before the screen flashed back to the Careers. After a moment, Peeta turned the sound down as far as it would allow and then slumped back next to me onto the couch, resting his face in his hands.

"That was _terrible_," he murmured into his palms.

"I—what?"

"Rue and Thresh," he said. "What happens when one of them dies?" He lifted his head to look at me. "I can't even imagine that. It would be like... me being in the games with Prim." My stomach lurched at the thought. Prim in the games was my worst nightmare. Add Peeta in and I didn't think I'd be able to survive watching.

"Don't even say that," I told him sternly, shaking my head.

"Sorry," he apologized, looking away from me.

"You're right though, it is terrible. It'll happen soon, too. Within the next day or two." I shuttered, wishing I wouldn't have to watch when it did. Still, images kept flashing through my head of all the different scenarios that would bring the end for them, of who would be the first to die...

I leaned into Peeta, the feeling of his warm body comforting next to mine. He leaned closer to me as well, until our sides were pressed together.

"I hate this," he whispered, nose pressed against my hair.

"Me too," I told him. I focused on his steady breathing to keep all other thoughts out of my head.

_ Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale..._

My head found its way to his shoulder, ear pressed against the crook of his neck, listening now to his heartbeat. It wasn't steady, like I would have thought it be. Instead, it was fast, uneven, and strong. My eyes traveled to his belly, and found that his breathing, too, wasn't even. His body was acting like it had just run a marathon.

"Katniss?" He whispered.

"Yes?" I met his eyes with mine, and found the big blue orbs full of emotion, one I couldn't place. His fingers brushed my jaw, and I found my breathing inexplicably becoming uneven too.

"I—" The loud booming voices of our brothers snapped us apart. The bakery had just closed, so they were done working.

Peeta and I didn't speak for the rest of the night. But there was one question pulsing in my mind, louder and more obtrusive than any other.

What would have happened if we hadn't been interrupted?


	7. Chapter 7

**Alright everyone, let me first just apologize for the crazy amount of time it took for me to update this. May was unbelievably busy for me, and once I actually got time to write this chapter, it ended up being a total pain in the ass. But, after much suffering, it's finally done! And the best part is that it's much long than the previous chapters, so I hope y'all enjoy!**

**I also want to thank everyone who reviews. You guys really brighten my day! Unfortunately I don't have the time to get back to all of you individually, so just know that you're putting a smile on my face and most likely kicking my butt into gear to make me write faster. :P**

**A million thanks to my betas, tweety4be and madamemouse. Tweety helped me tons with this chapter, so everyone blow her kisses! :)**

**Disclaimer: Peeta (and the rest of the Hunger Games) still does not belong to me.**

The following day, Peeta and I were both working in the store section of the bakery. It was slow—only a few people had come in to buy bread before breakfast. Peeta was also being oddly quiet. Instead of being his usual talkative self, he was silent for the most part. Late morning, however, the games snapped into action.

Most of the morning had been focused on the Careers as they recouped after their injuries from the following day, with the occasional screen jump to one of the other players who was not in an alliance. The only excitement so far, if you could call it that, was when Marvel stabbed the boy from Four in the back, eliminating another tribute. But right then, Rue, Pearl, and Thresh were center. Apparently, Rue was devising a plan to eliminate the Careers' food supply.

All three of them had been confused as to why the Careers' food was positioned like it was. They had put it in a pyramid-like structure, and left it seemingly unguarded. What we as an audience knew that they did not, however, was that it was protected by explosives. We had learned that the boy from three had managed to reactivate the land mines that the tributes stood on at the beginning of the games before he was killed. Nothing like that had ever happened in the games—even the Gamemakers were probably surprised.

Rue and Thresh had decided to distract the Careers while Pearl took care of the food. They had been hesitant to let her go by herself, but she finally convinced them. None of them, however, knew about the explosives guarding the food.

The smoke from a fire was what brought the Careers away from their camp. Pearl had been hiding in a tree, waiting for them to leave and trying to figure out how she would possibly sabotage what they had to eat. Finally, it dawned on her what was going on when the fox-like girl from seven made a move to steal something from the pile and quickly ran away, seemingly from nothing. Pearl strung a bow onto her arrow and shot a bag of apples.

The apples tumbled down, exploding the entire pyramid. Pearl was thrust out of her low-hanging tree branch and onto the ground. Her left ear was bleeding heavily, and disoriented, she ran as the bombs continued to burst.

The screen cut to the Careers, who were now at an abandoned fire and swore miserably as they ran back to their camp. Their worst fears were confirmed when they saw all their food had been burned to a crisp—all of them furiously screaming and blaming one another. After several threats and accusations were thrown about, they all wordlessly set off on a murderous rage, hoping to ease their fury with the shed of blood.

Cut to Pearl, who had somehow gotten back to Rue and Thresh. They were tending to her ear, which was still bleeding heavily, and she was swaying as if she would pass out at any moment. The best they could do was splash some antiseptic on it and bandage it.

The Careers came back into focus, right as Marvel stabbed the boy from four through the back and into the heart. The boys from eight and seven were killed as well, falling victim to Clove. They continued to stalk around the arena, trying to find more tributes to eliminate, but coming up empty.

The TV began to quiet after a while with no action, but the sound immediately spiked when Rue left the shelter by herself. Thresh had stayed with Pearl, but we didn't catch why Rue had left by herself in the first place. She quietly leapt through the trees, but she had to go by ground once she reached a small clearing. Unbeknownst to her, Clove was waiting silently in a shelter of trees, her eyes glued to Rue like a predators to prey. Marvel handed her the bow without a word, and I bit my lip, already knowing what was inevitable.

The arrow zipped through the trees and into the clearing, planting itself in Rue's chest before she had a chance to blink. She fell to the ground, coughing and gasping for breath. When Clove shot her fist up in the air, punctuating it with a gratified "Yes!" I wanted to be sick.

The Careers left the area, venturing farther into the trees. Rue sat by herself for several long moments, slowly dying, before Thresh and Pearl ran into the meadow, their eyes washing over with terror once they noticed the arrow stuck in Rue's tiny body.

Thresh pulled the arrow from her and grasped her hand once he reached her, murmuring things I couldn't catch and looking like he would begin weeping any moment. Pearl sat on Rue's opposite side, brushing her fingers through her hair, just as I often did for Prim after a nightmare or some other scary event.

They sat there until Rue finally passed, the canon confirming her death. Pearl and Thresh looked at each other with solemn expressions before Pearl finally began to speak.

"Let's—" she began, only to be cut off by the camera being focused elsewhere, on something that wasn't nearly as important.

"Why did they do that?" I asked Peeta, suddenly jumping back into reality. "Cut her off like that, I mean. It's like... they didn't want us to hear her or something."

"That's probably exactly why," he told me, finally turning on his stool to look at me, his blue eyes full of sadness. "Haymitch has told me that if anything the Capitol doesn't approve of—anything that so much as hints at the slightest form of rebellion—happens during the games, they'll immediately cut away from it.

"Oh," I said dumbly, still a bit surprised. I wasn't aware that they would do this, although it made sense considering how strict the Capitol was over anything that had to do with disobedience towards them.

"I just—that was so terrible. How she did that..." Peeta murmured, his thoughts going back to Rue's recent death.

"I know. And she was so _happy _about it..." My insides felt cold as I spoke, mentally re-witnessing Clove's glee at her kill. Peeta turned to me and squeezed my palm. I almost jumped. I welcomed his touch, but whenever I received it I had always had a moment to anticipate it, ready myself for the reaction my body seemed to get from him. This time, it was unexpected, and a bit... shocking. I stared at him, not wanting him to let go, but just a short, gentle squeeze was all I was given before he took his hand back.

We had a costumer come in then, an older man who bought five rolls and didn't speak to us other than to tell us what he wanted. Shortly after he left, the sound surged again, and our eyes made their way back to the television.

Rue's body was being lifted by a hovercraft, and we now knew what it was that Pearl had been suggesting before she was cut off—to cover Rue in flowers. Every inch of her tiny body was blanketed in wildflowers. It was beautiful, in the most bittersweet way. Pearl then pressed the three middle fingers of her left hand to her lips and then towards the hovercraft. Thresh watched her, then did the same, though he probably didn't know what it meant. It's an old gesture from District 12—it means thanks, admiration, goodbye—usually something someone does at a funeral of a loved one.

I blinked, now in serious danger of crying. But I kept the tears back, refusing for them to fall, and my eyes were fully dry by the time Peeta looked at me.

"Beautiful," was all he said.

xXx

Later that evening at dinner, my mother announced that she would be going to convert our old home into a make-shift hospital.

"It will bring in a little more money," she told us. "Although I won't expect everyone to pay for visits if they can't afford it. I just can't stand thinking of people suffering and getting no help because it cost too much."

"That's a great idea," Theo said, patting her hand. They exchanged a smile.

"And you said I could help you there, right?" Prim asked, nearly bursting with excitement.

"Of course," my mother told her with a grin. I smiled at them both, glad they were doing this, but knowing that there was no way I would be going anywhere near our old house. Sickness and death make me want to run screaming in the opposite direction—there's no way I'd be able to help an injured person.

After dinner, we all settled in the living room, spending time together as a family. Three more deaths occured that night—the girls from six and nine by the Careers and the boy from ten by Thresh. Once everyone started heading to bed, I looked at Peeta, hoping that he'd stay up to talk to me. He didn't, though—all I got was a soft goodnight before he headed to his bedroom and shut the door. I went upstairs and settled into my own bed, trying to ignore the ball of disappointment that was heavy in my stomach.

xXx

The action started early in the games the next morning. Peeta had only just flipped the sign in the window to "open" when the TV speakers began to blare. There were only six players left in the games, so there was a good chance that that would be the final day before we had a victor.

Thresh and Pearl woke together under their tree. Pearl was curled in Thresh's lap, and I had a sick feeling he would get attached to her like he had to Rue, and maybe vice versa. It would just be too terrible for him to have to lose both of them within twenty-four hours. They spent the morning collecting food—all they had left were a couple small pieces of dried meat—and Thresh got the idea to take a small pouch and fill them with poisonous berries, nightlock, and leave it out in the open, hoping one of the other tributes would find it and unknowingly end their own life.

By afternoon, Cato and Marvel had left Clove to scavenge for food also. They ended up fighting each other. Cato won after giving Marvel a deadly whack to the back of the head, but he was in bad shape. He decided to tend to his wounds rather than go back to Clove, who would most assuredly kill him immediately.

The tributes spent a good two hours just hiding out from each other. But if something didn't happen soon, the Gamemakers were going to create something to keep all the fans in the Capitol entertained. During those hours, Gale came in to the bakery to visit me. He didn't even acknowledge Peeta, but smiled brightly at me.

"Hey you," he said. "I haven't seen you in a couple days. Been busy?" I nodded, though that wasn't necessarily true.

"I can only stay for a couple minutes before I've got to get back to the house, but come by tomorrow, alright?"

"Okay. I will," I smiled at him. He grinned at me and squeezed my hand. Before he left, he shot a not so subtly glare in Peeta's direction. My smile faltered.

"He's quite the friendly one, isn't he?" Peeta said once Gale was gone.

"He's not usually that way," I told him defensively. "He just..." I trailed off, realizing that the reason Gale was rude to Peeta was because I had given him the impression that Peeta was rude to _me._

"He just what?" Peeta asked.

"He, um... I guess he, you know, got off on the wrong foot. He didn't have a very good first impression of you at the wedding..."

"Well he's being pretty harsh for a bad first impression. Rudeness like that usually comes after more than one bad experience." Peeta was trying to joke, but it didn't meet his eyes.

"I told him you were mean to me, alright?" I blurted, feeling both terrible and relieved the minute it left my mouth. His face fell slightly.

"It was after you said you didn't want to teach me how to bake, and, well, it hurt my feelings, I guess. And I told Gale about it but it didn't really transfer to him like I intended it to. I'm sorry." I could feel a blush rising in my cheeks as I told him this. I expected him to be angry with me, but instead he reached out and grabbed my hand.

"No, don't be. I shouldn't have reacted the way I did, and I can understand you wanting to tell someone about it. And Gale has every right not to like me—I don't think I'd be able to like anyone who was mean to you, either." I could tell every word he said was completely sincere by the look on his face, and I reached out and wrapped my arms around him.

"Thank you, Peeta," I murmured into his chest.

"Katniss, I—" he started, only to be interrupted by the TV. We pulled apart to look at the screen, but our bodies were still very close. Pearl and Thresh were out hunting, and the girl from seven was rooting through their belongings—and she was eating the nightlock, just as Thresh and Pearl had anticipated. It only took around fifteen minutes or so for her to die. That left only four players in the games.

The screen flashed to Thresh and Pearl just after we witnessed seven's death. Pearl was looking at Thresh in the strangest way—as if now that there were only four of them left, he would turn around and stab her at any moment.

"What?" He asked her. She just stared at him. "Hey," he stepped towards her. "I'm _not _going to kill you, alright?" She stared up at him, her eyes full of fear.

"I'm scared, Thresh. One of us is going die. Soon." She looked like she was going to cry. I covered my mouth with my hands and pressed my back closer to Peeta.

"I'll protect you for as long as I can. Okay? Do you trust me on that?" He raked his fingers through her hair, pushing it out of her eyes. She nodded, and he kissed her forehead before leading her deeper into the forest. The speakers quieted.

Peeta took a step back to take a seat on the stool behind him and exhaled loudly. His face was distraught. I leaned over and squeezed his shoulder.

"The end of this one is going to be terrible," he said. "I can understand how he'd want to protect her, but... What happens when there's only the two of them left?" I bit my lip. It was beginning to sink in, what he was saying. I don't know why I hadn't realized that earlier—my brain may have blocked the thought, too terrible to comprehend.

"You... you don't think one of them will kill the other, do you?"

"I guess we'll find out." He grabbed my hand and held it, rubbing my knuckles with his thumb. We fell silent for the rest of the afternoon.

xXx

That evening, the games came to an end. I was sitting on the couch between Prim and Peeta, grateful for their warmth as I watched the horrors unfold before us. We watched Thresh kill Clove after she taunted him about Rue. Furious, he had slammed her skull to the ground, ending her life with a sickening crack.

There were only three players left—Cato, Thresh, and Pearl. They stayed hidden from each other for too long, and the Gamemakers eventually released a pack of Muttations on them. While they looked enough like wolves, each mutt held a frightening resemblance to one of the previously killed tributes. Their eyes especially—so terribly human and vicious.

The mutts had ganged up on Thresh, nearly shredding his leg. He and Pearl had somehow managed to make it to the top of the Cornucopia, safely away from the mutts. Thresh, however was in terrible shape. He had lost so much blood from his leg, and bones were visible. It was sickening.

The mutts went after Cato, and killing him was apparently not an easy task. They chased him around for two hours, biting and shredding until he was so bloodied and torn that he was unrecognizable. Sometimes the Careers had something done to their bodies to make it much harder for them to be killed—that was clearly the case with Cato. He finally made it to the Cornucopia and stared at Pearl desperately, silently begging her to kill him. She did, with an arrow to his heart. The cannon sounded, and the mutts vanished.

And then there were two.

Thresh put his hand to Pearl's chin, guiding her to look at him. He was so pale, and weak.

"Kill me," He told her.

"No," she shook her head, almost violently. "No, no, no, no. I won't do it."

"You _have _to," he insisted. "One of us needs die and it sure as hell isn't going to be you."

"I won't kill you," she whimpered, crying now. He opened his mouth, ready to protest, but stopped himself.

"I'll go first anyway," he said finally. Pearl ignored him, resting her head against his chest and squeezing his torso.

They moved to the lake after a while—Thresh said he was thirsty, but I could tell he just wanted to put more tension on his leg to end his life sooner. Pearl had protested, but gave in at his insistence.

When they finally reached it, Thresh was in much worse condition. He requested for Pearl to kill him more than once, but she refused, each time telling him that she would notend his life. I couldn't believe what she was doing—refusing to kill him seemed to be quite the act of defiance against the Capitol, and we hadn't ever seen any player pull something like this in any of the games before. There was no doubt there would be some complications for her after she left the arena.

Finally, after three miserable hours, Thresh died, his head resting in Pearl's lap as she stroked his hair. Pearl had been keeping herself together fairly well throughout everything, but as she watched Thresh take his last breath and then heard the booming of the cannon confirm his death, she fell apart. Her sobs shook her entire body, and when the hovercraft came to pick Thresh's body up, she clutched him tightly to her chest.

"No!" She screamed through her sobs. "You can't take him! I won't let you!" Several intervals of silence indicated they were editing out some of what she was telling to them. Prim cuddled into me as we watched, and I felt her shake, indicating her silent tears.

Eventually, they had to take both Pearl and Thresh in the same hovercraft. Of course, they made it appear as though they planned to take them together in the first place. The Capitol never let anything appear as though it happened without their prior planning.

Finally, the screen cut to President Snow, who announced our new victor, and smiled about the end of another "great Hunger Games." The anthem followed him, and then the TV shut off for the first time in days.

We all were shaken by the end of the games, especially at Pearl's reaction to Thresh's death. My mother's eyes glistened, as did the rest of ours, and her fingers were white as they clutched Theo's hand. The both of them quickly bid us goodnight and excused themselves to bed. Ben, Terence, and Prim followed, but Peeta and I stayed. It was almost one in the morning, but I didn't want to go to bed just yet.

I leaned against Peeta.

"You were right," I told him.

"I was right?"

"About the end. It was terrible." I pressed my face into his upper arm, trying to prevent myself from tearing up again.

"Oh. It was," he agreed.

"Why didn't she do it?" I asked him, meeting his eyes. "Kill him when he asked her to, I mean. Because... he was going to die anyway, and he would have had to suffer less if she did."

"I guess, in theory, killing him would have been easier. But having been there with him, survived with him, killing him probably would have been impossible. If it was you and me in the arena, and I was in his place and you were in Pearl's, would you have been able to kill me?" I opened my mouth to answer him, but he interrupted me. "Wait—never mind, don't answer that. I might not like what you have to say," he teased, trying to lighten the mood. I smiled.

"I guess you're right. I mean, right now, it's easy to say that I'd end your life if you were dying and asking me to, but actually doing it..." I trailed off. "No. I don't think I could." Peeta brushed a strand of hair off my forehead and tucked it behind my ear. His fingers left a trail of... something, in their wake. I didn't know what it was, but it felt nice.

"Are you tired?" he asked me, changing the subject.

"Yes," I said, resting my head on his shoulder and curling into him. He leaned back and his arm found its way around me. My eyes drooped, and I couldn't help but think that I really should go upstairs and get to bed, before I fell asleep on the couch against Peeta's warm, sleeping body.

**So the games are done! Yay! Honestly can't even begin to tell you how happy I am about that, because they were torturous to write.**

**Anyway, just wanted to let you guys know that the next chapter will revolve more around Katniss and Peeta, since the story has kind of been lacking in that and I know it's what you're dying to see! ;)**


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